Solera Oak Valley Greens Association

OPEN SESSION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Wednesday January 20, 2010

 

TIME AND PLACE

The Open Session of the Solera Oak Valley Greens Association was held on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in the Oakmont Clubhouse, 1615 Fairway Drive, Beaumont, California.

 

I.  CALL TO ORDER          

President George Schrader called the Open Session to order at 6:30 p.m.

 

II.  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 

III.  ROLL CALL / BOARD MEMBER AND STAFF INTRODUCTIONS

Secretary McWilliams called the roll.  All Directors were present.

 

Christine Walczak and Sandra Bess were present representing PCM.

 

IV.  EXECUTIVE SESSIONThe Board of Directors met in Executive Session prior to this Open Session to consider personnel matters, formation of contracts with third parties, and legal matters.              

 

V.   OPEN SESSION

·         Gary Stoh (951 Gleneagles Rd) commented on Item B under New Business, “Screened-in Patios”.  Mr. Stoh stated that the Board amended the Design Guidelines in 2009 to expand the language about enclosing the existing Pulte patio as a room addition in order to make the language more consistent with the CC&Rs.  He also expressed his opinion against screened-in patios.  

·         Ben Yelin (1785 Desert Poppy) asked that the Board consider making room in the next FY budget for extending the pool and spa hours to 10:00 p.m. every evening.  

·         Tom Gustafson (1723 N. Forest Oaks) encouraged the Board to consider amending the existing rules to permit the installation of artificial turf on residential lots.

·         Don Blunk (1096 Northview) announced the Veteran’s Workshop on January 30, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Beaumont Civic Center.

·         Lane Joel (1731 Desert Almond) commented in favor of developing standards to permit screened-in patios, and encouraged the Board to approve the installation of artificial turf on residential lots. 

·         Ken Lopez (1795 N. Forest Oaks) commented on several instances of unauthorized entry through the back gates and asked for a clarification of the duties of Boyd Security personnel.

 

VI.  GENERAL MANAGER AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

The following monthly reports were submitted to the Board.  Copies of the written reports are attached to these Minutes:

 

A)   GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT - Christine Walczak presented an oral report on the status of delinquencies and the gate arm statistics for the previous month. 

 

B) AD HOC NEW RESIDENT ORIENTATION COMMITTEE – Sue Ann Summers, Chair

 

C)  AD HOC SOLAR ENERGY – No report, AD HOC WATER CONSERVATION – No report.   

 

D) COMMON AREA LANDSCAPE ADVISORY COMMITTEES – Richard Crowe, Chair.

 

E) COMMUNICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE – Tal Campbell, Chair

 

F) DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE – Dave Edgett, Chair

 

G) FINANCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE – Forrest Watts, Chair

 

H)  NOMINATING COMMITTEE – Sue Ann Summers, Chair

 

G) RECREATION ACTIVITIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE – Alice Hermanson, Chair

 

H) SECURITY REPORT

Monthly statistics were included in general manager’s oral report.       

 

VII.   FINANCIAL

Treasurer Nelson concurred with the Finance Advisory Committee’s recommendations, and commented on the continued rise in delinquencies.     

 

VIII.   PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Schrader reported that Brookside was closed due to flooding caused by recent storms, and that the City is seeking funds for street improvements to prevent future flooding.  President Schrader also reported that Brian DeForge is the new mayor of Beaumont.   

 

Mr. Bill Souder was asked to give the Board an update on the touch pad controllers for the sound system in the Oakmont Rooms.

 

IX.  CONSENT CALENDAR

A motion was made by Treasurer Nelson, seconded by Secretary McWilliams and unanimously carried to approve the following Consent Calendar items:

 

A.     Minutes of the December 16, 2009 Open Session

 

B.     Finance Committee Recommendations

 

1.    Acceptance of December 2009 financial statements.

 

C.     Resolutions:

1.    Liens on Solera Properties: 

 

This document is made part of and is attached here to the Minutes of the meeting of the Board of Directors on January 20, 2010.

 

The following accounts have become delinquent and the ”Intent to Lien” letter has been sent in accordance with the Association’s collection policy.

 

The Board of Directors hereby instructs Management to record a lien against the delinquent accounts should the assessments not be paid within the time period established in the Intent to Lien letter:

 

335S025-3    3351053-6

335S239-7    3350051-7

3350093-2     3351043-7

3351052-8     3352034-3

            3353047-0     335400Q-1

3354009-3

 

 

2.    Appointment of Bud Charlick to the Design Review Committee

 

WHEREAS, there is currently one vacancy on the Design Review Committee, and

 

WHEREAS, Bud Charlick has volunteered to serve on the Committee and has been interviewed by the Board of Directors, 

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Board of Directors hereby appoints Bud Charlick to serve on the Association’s Design Review Committee in accordance with Article V, Section 5.03 of the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs).   The term of service shall be one (1) year, expiring on January 20, 2011, pursuant to the aforementioned CC&R provision.

 

 

3.    Association Insurance Policy Annual Renewal

 

WHEREAS, the Association’s Master Insurance Policy expires on January 31, 2010, and

 

WHEREAS, the Board of Directors and Finance Advisory Committee met with the prospective insurance brokers to review the renewal proposals, and

 

WHEREAS, the Board of Directors and Finance Advisory Committee recommend acceptance of the proposal from LaBarre/Oksnee Insurance Agency, Inc. with an annual premium of $ 25,496.00 with coverage effective February 1, 2010,

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors hereby approve the master insurance renewal proposal from LaBarre/Oksnee Insurance Agency, Inc.  The annual premium amount of $ 25,496.00 will be allocated to General Ledger Account 1301, Prepaid Insurance, and insurance coverage will begin on February 1, 2010. 

 

 

 

D.     Investment Authorizations

 

Institution

Maturity

Amount

Action

Kansas State Bank (Reserve)

02/22/2010

$99,000

Purchase a new 6-month CD for $99,000.00 at best available rate

New CD

N/A

N/A

Purchase a new 12-month CD for $99,000.00 at best available rate

 

X.  UNFINISHED BUSINESS – There was no Unfinished Business.

 

XI.   NEW BUSINESS

A.   Approval of Specifications for Landscape Maintenance Contract Bidding – The Board concurred that Secretary McWilliams and general manager Walczak will develop the specifications for the Requests for Proposal using the Landscape Maintenance 

 

B.   Proposed Amendments to Design Guidelines

1.    Artificial Turf – A motion was made by Director Mahoney and seconded by Secretary McWilliams to approve the proposed specifications for the installation of artificial turf for mailing to the Members.  After discussion, Director Mahoney amended the original motion to include the following:

 

To 4(d), add “and Solera CC&Rs” to the end of the sentence.

To remove the “Cautions” contained on the last page of the specifications.

To remove the two opening paragraphs of the document.

 

The amended motion was seconded by Secretary McWilliams.  The motion carried with four (4) votes in favor and one (1) against, Vice President Rader voting no.

 

2.    Screened-in Patios – A motion was made by Director Mahoney and seconded by Secretary McWilliams to send the proposed revisions to the Design Guidelines regarding screened-in patios back to the DRC to be re-written.  The motion further stated that the mailing of the proposed artificial turf specifications will be delayed pending approval of the re-written revisions in order to avoid the expense of two mailings.  The motion carried with four (4) votes in favor and one (1) against, Vice President Rader voting no.

 

 

C.    Petition Received from Members January 5, 2010 to amend Solera Bylaws - The Board adopted the following resolution upon a motion duly made by Secretary McWilliams, seconded by Treasurer Nelson and unanimously carried:

 

WHEREAS, The Board of Directors received a petition requesting that the Board undertake the revision of the Association’s Bylaws, specifically that any provisions to the “Declarant” and to “Cumulative Voting” be removed from the Bylaws, and

 

WHEREAS, The petition contains the signatures of ninety-seven (97) Members in Good Standing, such signatures representing more than five percent (5%) of the Voting Power of the Association, and

 

WHEREAS, on January 7, 2010 the Secretary of the Association verified the signatures contained in the petition are valid in accordance with the Association’s Governing Documents, and

 

WHEREAS, the Association’s legal counsel advised the Board there was no legal obligation to accept the petition because the petition itself failed to specifically call for a Special Meeting for the purpose of amending the Bylaws, and

 

WHEREAS, the Board believes it would be in the best interest of the Corporation to proceed with the requested amendments;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Solera at Oak Valley Greens Board of Directors hereby calls for a Special Meeting of the Members on July 21, 2010 for the purpose of voting on amendments to Solera’s Bylaws that would remove all references to the “Declarant” and to “Cumulative Voting”.  The meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. in the Oakmont Clubhouse, and will be held in lieu of the Regular Open Session for July. 

 

FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the General Manager, along with the Inspectors of Election and the Association’s legal counsel, to prepare and distribute all necessary election notifications, documents, and ballot materials in accordance with California State Law and the Association’s Governing Documents.

 

D.     Establish Date for Next Town Hall Meeting – A motion was made by Director Mahoney, seconded by Secretary McWilliams and unanimously carried to have Recreation Coordinator Melanie Johnson organize a community family information event on a Saturday or Sunday in April or May that will include the Beaumont Police Department and it’s resources.

 

E.   Close Oakmont Clubhouse from November 1st through November 7th 2010 for major maintenance and repair projects – A motion was made by Secretary McWilliams, seconded by Director Mahoney and unanimously approved to close down the Oakmont Clubhouse from November 1 through November 7, 2010 to accomplish major maintenance and repair projects.  The closing will permit all work to be scheduled during daytime hours to reduce cost and noise nuisance to nearby properties.

 

F.    Replace Carpet in Main Entry of Clubhouse with Tile and Entrance Mat – The Board directed PCM to obtain proposals for (1) re-carpeting the medallion area in the front entry, and (2) replacing the existing carpet with tile and entrance mats.

 

G.   Board Discussion Items:

 

1.    Flashing Lights on Boyd Security Truck – The Board concurred that the Boyd personnel should use the flashing lights on an intermittent basis for two-hour intervals at a time.  

 

XII.  ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Board of Directors, and upon a motion made by Director Mahoney, seconded by Treasurer Nelson and unanimously carried, President Schrader adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m.

 

 

 

 

ATTESTED TO:      _____________________      DATE:       ________________________

                                    Judith McWilliams

Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Communications Advisory Committee Report

 

The new Online Directory for Solera at Oak Valley Greens continues to be updated almost daily as residents see the new promotional forms and choose to add their names, addresses and e-mail online at solerfun.com or at the clubhouse front desk.  We are seeking board approval for a flyer to go in the next billing statements as well. Residents may also order directories printed out at the front desk for $3 or $6 if they want to add listings by street address.

 

The Solera Oak Valley Greens Gazette was published on schedule the first week of January, featuring the Oak Valley RV Club as part of the Gazette’s effort to emphasize lifestyle of the Solera community through various clubs and groups. 

 

Other activities discussed at the Communications Advisory Committee meetings on the second Tuesday of each month have been plans for distribution of the new Welcome Packet for new residents, further research into a possible Website Service Directory for listing services available from Solera residents, and the possibility of new community surveys on content of the Gazette, website and other community interests.

 

Website usage continues to grow:

 

Average monthly hits in 2008 were 2,627 almost doubling to 4,765 in 2009.  The number of hits in November, 2009 was 5,257 compared to 5,658 in December, 2009. Residents requested 412 visitor passes from the front gate online in December, compared to 204 the month before, but 628 were issued by Security as a result of phone calls.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Tal Campbell

Chairman

Common Area Landscape Advisory Committee Report

CALAC held its monthly meeting on January 12. Artistic attended the meeting.

Artistic Projects

_ Routine Tasks completed-in progress: pre-emergent weed killer in grass and planter areas;

safety pruning over sidewalks and streets; weeds spraying in sidewalk/streets cracks/grass areas;

annual color change; refreshing mulch top-dressing in planters.

_ [Second review] One-time project proposed for Board consideration: replace grass and oak

trees in Snowberry parkway (between Snowberry gate and Silverleaf) with decorative rock -

$5,400 (proposal # 1300-759-165 attached). Rationale: spray irrigation floods to both sides of

sidewalk: street to east and shrub area to west. In latter case soil is rather water-logged and

shrubs are dying. Adjustments and rotor sprays can not mitigate the problem. Note that the

existing oaks would come out, too. The 30” of parking strip is much too narrow for mature oaks.

Liquidambars on Westside of sidewalk are already slated to be removed. Altogether, then, there

would be no street trees in this stretch of Snowberry so we will propose new trees. Cost would be

$2,000-$3,000. Committee feels this situation is unique and does not see expanding to parking

strips in other parts of Solera common area. Shrub replacement is yet an additional cost –

perhaps $500 - $1,000. Grand total: $8,000. General Manager Christine advises that the Capital

Improvement Fund can fund the $5,400 portion; current year budgeted funds (landscape repairsnew

plantings) would cover the remainder. Committee asks for Board consideration and decision

for change. Another thought: an alternative to replacing the parkway grass with rock would be to

convert to low-growing ground cover and modifying the irrigation to drip. Ground cover change

would be less expensive, more aesthetic, and water-demanding – but not nearly as much as grass

watering, however.

_ Artistic has submitted a proposal to address the problem of grass mowing adjacent to the

flagpole lights to wit: 1) lights periodically get bumped and require repair, and 2) grass irrigation

periodically shorts out the system. The proposal is a combination of rock (same as that around

fountain on north side of club House) and Iceberg roses. See attached photo simulation and

proposal #1300-759-164. Committee recommends the proposed change as top priority for current

expenditure needs. This proposal does not overly the area for the proposed plaque by the Vets

Club.

Committee Projects

_ The West Greenbelt – Redesign Proposal. Reminder: Artistic advises that the contract work

should be performed in March after risk of winter-kill of new, small plants is past. In the

meantime artificial watering of project area will cease given recent rains and winter dormancy.

Committee will remind the Board in February to review and decide on obligating funds for

remainder of Parcel A project.

_ Committee completed the redrafting of the landscape maintenance contract and can address any

questions or concerns that the Board might have.

Water Conservation Subcommittee

Nothing to report.

Richard Crowe, Chair

Attachment

 

NOMINATION COMMITTEE REPORT

 

The 2009-2010 Nominating Committee continues to work on the details of the upcoming all candidates meeting and individual interviews in the month of February.   Our regularly scheduled meeting for Monday, January 18th will include putting together the format and questions for this all candidate meeting and also the questions for the individual candidates.  We are also beginning to plan for the Candidate Forums scheduled for April 14th and 15th ~ set-up, panel questions and how to include all questions from the resident audience.

 

An article in the April Gazette, put together by the Inspector of Elections (Dennis Rice) and me, will emphasize the importance of voting in this community.  The May Gazette will feature the pictures of each candidate and a one line statement.  FYI ~ pictures of candidates will be scheduled by Lane Joel and the candidates during the period of Feb/mid March.

 

Ballots with candidate pictures with statements will be mailed to the Solera Oak Valley Greens owners on Friday, April 16th. 

 

Campaigning will begin for each candidate on April 16th.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Sue Ann Summers